"indicating purpose," 1835, in Biblical philology, from Greek telikos "final," from telos "end, goal, result" (see telos).
Entries linking to telic
telos n.
"ultimate object or aim," 1904, from Greek telos "the end, limit, goal, fulfillment, completion," from PIE *kwel-es-, suffixed form of root *kwel- (1) "revolve, move round; sojourn, dwell," perhaps via the notion of "turning point (of a race-course, a field)."
*kwel- 1
also *kwelə-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "revolve, move round; sojourn, dwell."
It forms all or part of: accolade; ancillary; atelo-; bazaar; bicycle; bucolic; chakra; chukker; collar; collet; colonial; colony; cult; cultivate; culture; cyclamen; cycle; cyclo-; cyclone; cyclops; decollete; encyclical; encyclopedia; entelechy; epicycle; hauberk; hawse; inquiline; Kultur; lapidocolous; nidicolous; palimpsest; palindrome; palinode; pole (n.2) "ends of Earth's axis;" pulley; rickshaw; talisman; teleology; telic; telophase; telos; torticollis; wheel.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit cakram "circle, wheel," carati "he moves, wanders;" Avestan caraiti "applies himself," c'axra "chariot, wagon;" Greek kyklos "circle, wheel, any circular body, circular motion, cycle of events,"polos "a round axis" (PIE *kw- becomes Greek p- before some vowels), polein "move around;" Latin colere "to frequent, dwell in, to cultivate, move around," cultus "tended, cultivated," hence also "polished," colonus "husbandman, tenant farmer, settler, colonist;" Lithuanian kelias "a road, a way;" Old Norse hvel, Old English hweol "wheel;" Old Church Slavonic kolo, Old Russian kolo, Polish koło, Russian koleso "a wheel."